Marketers agree that the U.S. Hispanic market is a potentially lucrative one that cannot and should not be ignored. They know the Hispanic market is bigger, younger and increasing its buying power faster than any other minority group in the country. The problem, though, is they don't know how to target the group successfully, and their efforts to date have been paltry compared to what they do for other market segments. For example, a consulting firm reports that more than 100 of the top 250 television and print advertisers spend less than 1 percent of their budget targeting the Hispanic market. One problem is that marketers trying to reach the Hispanic market rush to hire people of Hispanic origin without making sure those people have the right marketing credentials. Rudy Rodriguez, director of multicultural marketing for General Mills, has a staff of five specializing in the Hispanic segment. Asked about his criteria for hiring, he says that passion for the segment and leadership far outweigh cultural background and even language skills. "There are some people on my staff who are becoming great experts in Hispanic marketing, and they are not Hispanic and don't speak Spanish," he says. Read the whole story...

Text messaging is one of the latest methods marketers are using to reach out to consumers, and in the case of Tyson Foods the strategy appears to be working. Earlier this month Tyson sponsored an international gymnastics competition where it ran an on-site promo inviting spectators to text a message to World Champion gymnast Chellsie Memmel for a chance to win seats on the floor during the competition. Halfway through the event, one winner got a call from Memmel to meet her on the floor and watch the rest of the program together. The other participants got a follow-up message from Memmel the next day, thanking them for playing and encouraging them to stay in contact with Tyson online. The big news was that a whopping 57 percent of the audience entered the contest. "This technology allowed us to effectively amplify the Tyson presence in the arena and initiate a dialogue with more than half the families in attendance," said Tyson Senior Vice President-CMO Bob Corscadden in a statement. Springdale, AR-based Tyson is testing mobile marketing "to build more direct relationships with consumers," Corscadden said. "Success will allow us to more effectively activate sponsorship properties like the U.S. Olympic Team and USA Gymnastics." Read the whole story...

Johnson & Johnson has agreed to be the exclusive sponsor of a new programming initiative on CNN that will run as a regular interstitial feature as well as an hour-long quarterly special in prime time. The feature is called "Welcome to the Future," and it will be a showcase examining how technology is changing all aspects of American life. The initiative is part of CNN's ongoing effort to create additional programming environments for its advertisers. The package also includes online and wireless elements. It premieres this week, hosted by "American Morning" anchor Miles O'Brien. It will run across all dayparts on CNN, Headline News and CNN Airport Network. Greg D'Alba, COO of CNN ad sales and marketing, said the deal offers clients multiple platforms in which they can "engage the consumer, sell their product and build their brand image." D'Alba said that 80 percent of CNN's upfront deals last year were integrated, a trend he expects to continue this year. "This may be the last upfront where the linear model exists, with everything hinging on ratings points and cost-per-thousands," D'Alba said. Read the whole story...

Bazooka bubblegum, a venerable brand that one generation fondly recalls but is virtually unknown among another, will be relaunched this summer by Topps Co. The gum category is currently enjoying a renaissance and Topps wants to cash in while the going is good. The only problem is that the product's primary target group has never heard of it. "We've almost missed an entire generation," said Paul Cherrie, Topps managing director. The brand has received virtually no marketing support for the past decade and subsequently is unknown among today's six- to 12-year-olds, the group that makes up the biggest group of bubble-gum purchasers. The Bazooka relaunch is Topps' No. 1 priority over the next two years, Mr. Cherrie said, because it is the "strongest and most under-leveraged brand franchise we have," and because gum is currently outperforming many of the other segments Topps is part of within the non-chocolate confectionary category. The $4 million relaunch includes a kid-targeted TV campaign this July that will run on networks including Nickelodeon as well as a push with Internet and PR initiatives. Gum sales grew 3.4% to $1 billion in food, drug and mass outlets excluding Wal-Mart for the 52 weeks ended Feb. 19, according to Information Resources, Inc. Read the whole story...

In the latest trend to break through the clutter of advertising and engage consumers who can easily zap through television commercials, a growing number of marketers are trying to lure viewers into their web by inviting them to participate in the advertising process. The methods range from asking customers to create their own ads to offering cash and prizes for finishing TV spots to choosing which spots will run from a selection of professionally created ads. The list of major advertisers experimenting with the process is impressive. It includes MasterCard International, Home Depot, General Motors Corp., Sony Electronics, Toyota Motors and L'Oreal Paris. And it seems to be working. Last month Home Depot encouraged consumers to go to its Web site and vote for one of three 30-second TV spots, and received almost 450,000 votes. All three ads showed a couple shopping at Home Depot, apparently in the market for a new tractor. The winning ad, with more than 168,000 votes, titled "Indecision," shows the male actor taking so long to decide among Home Depot's three tractor brands that he remains in the store after it closes. "More and more consumers are choosing what messages to receive with video-on-demand and opt-in e-mails," said Roger Adams, Home Depot's senior vice president of marketing. "We want to allow consumers a chance to vote on what they receive in mass media as well." Read the whole story...

Major marketers are gearing up to face one of their biggest advertising challenges ever--how to facilitate global marketing by making a single ad that appeals to consumers in different nations all around the world. That's a job for marketers who will advertise on television coverage of soccer's World Cup, a month-long tournament scheduled to begin in Germany in early June. The games will be shown in 189 countries to an audience that makes the crowd watching the Super Bowl look small. For agency creatives, the challenge is enormous. "World Cup makes the NFL Super Bowl look like an amateur event when it comes to creative advertising," says Larry Flanagan, chief marketing officer of MasterCard International, a sponsor and major advertiser at the tournament. Other U.S. marketers planning to participate include Anheuser-Busch and Gillette. A-B says it will spend more on World Cup advertising and marketing than it did at the Olympics or Super Bowl and plans to air a modified version of an ad it ran on the Super Bowl. It shows fans in a stadium holding up cards that create an image of Budweiser beer being poured into a glass. "If you get too complicated you will lose people with different cultures and perspectives," says A-B's vice president of global sports marketing, Tony Ponturo. Read the whole story...